September 17, 2012

Day Two: day trip to Monaco

We woke up rather early, since we were planning to go to Monaco for the day. We had breakfast at a joint called Gelateria Pinocchio, and then started our trip with a scenic bus ride to Monaco. Too bad we sat on the wrong side of the bus because the views were amazing. The houses in the mountains and the view the sea was gorgeous. I wish I could have taken pictures!

First stop in Monaco was in the old town, Monaco-Ville. We visited the Cathédrale de Monaco and also went to the Palais du Prince. I didn't know that a part of the royal family still lived in that building! Inside the palace, we had audio guides and it taught us about all the history of each room. So many pretty pieces of furniture and paintings in each room!

After Monaco-Ville, we decided to head over to my most anticipated stop in Monaco, Monte Carlo. We took the bus to Place Du Casino and headed over to Hôtel de Paris first. After watching the movie Monte Carlo (with Selena Gomez, insert other 2 names) and seeing how gorgeous the hotel was, I was excited to go inside. Disappointing enough, it was not the same at all. I was quite sad but it was still a classy hotel. We only stayed inside for a bit because we were scared that people would start asking us questions. We headed over to the Monte Carlo Casino. I personally do not gamble and am against gambling. But ironically, I could watch people play roulette, poker, and blackjack all day. I don't know why but I have so much fun watching high rollers and ballas just whip out cash and exchange them for chips. I wish I had pretended to play so I could have brought a chip home as a souvenir. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be going back there in the future! :P

For dinner, we decided to splurge and so of course we would go to Café de Paris. It was so pretty!! And overpriced, so we both just got salads. My salad had lettuce, a slab of tuna, eggs, tomato, peppers, celery, and other veggies. We also got a baby bottle of white wine for the heck of it.

After eating, it was legit a mission and a half to get back to Nice. First, we couldn't find the bus stop. Then, we realized we missed the last bus back to Nice. So we decided to take the train instead. Then we had to find and walk to the train station. When we got to the station, we found out that the last train was cancelled and a bus was replacing the train so we had to wait for the bus (along with 100+ other people). Once the bus came, everyone was pushing and shoving everyone. I literally got squished but luckily, we both were able to get onto the bus and find seats. However, since not everyone fit onto the bus, everyone was screaming at each other. And what didn't help was that everyone was speaking different languages! I honestly felt like I was in a movie or something. After we got back to Nice (it took around 3 hours), this nice guy walked us back to our hotel. And then we passed out.